What About Now

Chapter 36 - Tragedy

Thomas' P.O.V.
"W-what?" Taylor said, in a voice that was barely audible. Her hands were clasped over her mouth, and I could see the growing tears glisten in her eyes. She continued looking at the nurse, who nodded her head slightly.

"We thought she was going to survive," She mumbled quietly, "But there was some swelling over her brain. Your brother-in-law has suffered serious injuries also, but he's in a stable condition. I'm so sorry."

"No!" Taylor cried out, with tears spilling over her face. She buried her face in her hands, and her shoulders shook viciously. I got up slowly from my chair and took a seat beside Taylor on the bed.

"Taylor, I'm so sorry," I whispered, holding her in a hug. She didn't reply. Instead, she buried her face in my jumper and balled it with her fist as she held onto me. She screamed out as she cried, and I could feel her tears soak through my jumper. I had never lost someone close to me before, and I couldn't imagine hearing that one of my parents or my sister had died. But I couldn't possibly imagine how Taylor was feeling. She'd lost both her parents, and her sister had been all she had left of her family. Now she was lost too.

"Where is she?" Taylor asked suddenly, looking up at the nurse.

"She's in room 146," The nurse began, but continued hurriedly as Taylor started getting up from her bed, "But you can't go in there! They're still working on your brother-in-law, and you're in no condition to walk!" But Taylor wouldn't have it. She was up off the bed in seconds and tore out of the room, dodging the nurse as she went.

"She can't go in there!" The nurse exclaimed at me, rushing out into the corridor, "She can't! It'll just make it worse!"

"Taylor!" I shouted out, following the nurse and breaking into a run after her, "Taylor, stop!" However, Taylor kept running.

Taylor's P.O.V.
I didn't care what that nurse had told me. I had to see her. This was all my fault, and as I ran down corridor after corridor to room 146, the tears fell like bullets; each one causing more pain than the previous. I could hear Thomas running after me, shouting out my name as he did, but I kept my distance. I was determined to see my sister.

"Taylor! Stop!" Thomas cried, almost catching up with me, "Just slow down!" The pain was starting to grow in my side again, but I pushed it aside. I rounded another corner, and I finally made it to the room. I came to a stop at the door, and looked through the small glass window. Numerous nurses and doctors were bustling around in the room, and there was a large white curtain that hung from the ceiling, covering a portion of the room. I knew that Sydney's bed was behind it. Without thinking about it, I threw the door open.

"Hey, you can't come in here!" A nurse shouted out at me as I ran for the curtain. Doctors stopped what they were doing and grabbed at my arms, making me shout out in pain.

"No, no that's my sister!" I screamed with even more tears falling from my face, "No, I won't leave her!"

Thomas' P.O.V.
Breathing deeply, I stopped at the door to Sydney's room. I could already hear shouting from down the corridor, and when I looked in through the open door, anger rose up inside of me.

"Hey!" I yelled over them all, creating a sudden silence, "Let her go! If she wants to see her sister to say goodbye, then you will bloody well let her!" The doctors looked at each other for a moment, as if debating whether or not Taylor could have a moment with her sister. I glared at the one who had grabbed Taylor's arm, and he loosened his grip.

"Taylor?" A man's voice suddenly spoke. Taylor and I turned to see Sam sat in a bed at the opposite end of the room, with numerous bandages and casts covering his body.

"Oh my God, Sam!" Taylor cried, breaking free of the doctors' grip and rushing to hug him.

"Oh, Taylor! I'm so sorry!" Sam whispered, "I wish I could have done something! But, but it just happened so quickly! I didn't know what to do!" Taylor didn't reply, but cried heavily into Sam's shoulder. It pained me to see her like this.

"Wait, are you Mrs Thomson's sister?" One of the nurses asked, approaching her and Sam.

"Yes," She sniffled, breaking apart from Sam, "Please? Please can I see her?" The doctors and nurses looked around at each other, and then the nurse turned back to Taylor.

"Yes, we'll give you a moment." Silently, the people in the room left, leaving just Sam, Taylor and myself. Taylor looked from the curtain to me, silently thanking me, before taking slow steps towards her sister's bed. Without saying a word, she pulled back the curtain, and looked down at her sister, who lay there peacefully. There were several cuts and bruises all over her face, and more blood was dotted on her arms.

"Taylor?" I asked, watching as she quietly sat down in the chair beside Sydney's bed.

"This is all my fault," She sobbed, catching her breath between words as she took her sister's hand, "I shouldn't have taken the kids away."

"No, no Taylor," I said softly, crouching beside her, "Taylor, this is not your fault. You didn't know she was coming!"

"But I shouldn't have brought the kids away!" She cried, "I was selfish. We should have stayed in London. Then this wouldn't have happened!"

"Hey, hey," I put my hand under her chin and lifted her face to look at mine. Her eyes looked extremely sore, and her tears soaked her skin.

"You Taylor, are the least selfish person I know. All you wanted was to give your niece and nephew a nice Christmas. It was your sister's own choice to come and see them. None of this is your fault." She looked at me with pained eyes. Taylor didn't deserve this. No one did.

"But how is this a nice Christmas for them?" She exclaimed, gesturing towards the room, "Their mum is gone! My sister is gone! The last person who cares about me in this entire bloody world is gone!"

"Taylor, you don't realise how many people care about you," I sighed, rubbing her back gently.

"Who, Thomas?" She burst, "My fiancé is never there for me. He's always at work. Don't you think that it's ever crossed my mind that there's someone else he's seeing? That he doesn't love me? Sydney was always there for me. I loved her more than anything, and now she's gone!"

"And what about me? What about Dylan, Kaya and Sam? Not to mention the kids! Taylor, we all care about you more than you realise!" I watched her as she looked down into her lap and more tears fell from her eyes. How she couldn't see that, I didn't know.

"I promise you, love," I half smiled, lifting her face again, "You are not alone. Don't ever think that!" I wiped a tear from her face and then pulled her back into my embrace.

"She didn't tell you, did she?" Sam spoke up. The pair of us turned to see him with tears in his eyes.

"Didn't tell me what?" Taylor asked shakily.

"About the baby," Sam exhaled, "I guess she wanted to surprise you. When you left with the kids, later that day Sydney's waters broke. We managed to get her to a hospital in time, and there she gave birth. But when Sydney was allowed to leave the hospital, the doctors said they still needed to run some checks on the baby. So, we left my mum with the baby, and we decided to come down and surprise you lot with the news. But then, then this happened."

"Wait, so she had already given birth?" I asked, completely stunned.

"Yeah," Sam nodded, "To our daughter.